gnu...it doesn't matter what you tell me, I will still like squirrels, I will still think they're cute, and I will still feed them. ;-) And you know what? They mostly like me too....once they get to know me.

On October 8, 1946, the most horrible event in the history of the world happened.

In the delivery room at St. Mary's Hospital, Quincy, Illinois, my brother Tony was born. That's right -- from then on I was no longer The Center Of The Universe! People no longer oohed and aahed over me, but over the "cute baby" (even though he was and still is uglier than twenty miles of mud fence). I did my best to convince my parents it was a mistake, to toss him back, to return him, but in vain -- they kept him. Even today I have a brother who's dumber than a cedar stump, uglier than home-made sin, and the father of seven kids (most of whom have managed to overcome their paternal handicap) and two grandkids (one of whom had a birthday yesterday). Sure, he was in Vietnam at the same time I was flitting around the Korean DMZ. Sure, he's pretty smart for someone so dumb. Sure, he's my only remaining brother and I'd have his back anytime just as he'd have mine.

Still, it was a horrible, terrible thing my parents did, diverting all the attention from me and making me share stuff.

"Stilly, if squirrels are eating carrion, they're doing us all a favor. What I meant was, they don't deliberately pursue prey and kill it in order to eat it."

Oh dear. You really don't know squirrels... aaaat all.

They will deliberately kill and eat anything they can. Better be careful when you are feeding yer cute furry little rats with bushy tails. If there are enough of them and you are not alert, well, I wouldn't THAT on my headstone.

That is very unusual, Rap! The squirrels and birds here have been coexisting with no problems. Perhaps that specific squirrel was a psycho...a sort of Jack the Ripper of the squirrel nation. I think you did the right thing in administering justice.

As for squirrels -- we had a bird feeder in our backyard in Indiana. For several days I found birds -- different species -- with the tops of their heads bitten off. One day I say, with my own eyes, a gray squirrel jump on a robin and bite the top of its head off. Perhaps it was for the birdseed, but I really don't know why it did it; I never looked for marks that the squirrel was eating the birds because the carcases were usually in poor shape when I found them.

This particular squirrel met with a fatal accident shortly after I witnessed the event.

Stilly, if squirrels are eating carrion, they're doing us all a favor. What I meant was, they don't deliberately pursue prey and kill it in order to eat it. We do (usually by proxy).

Take, for instance, the time Rapparee serenaded an attractive Manatee for days, thus gaining the poor creature's trust, then smacked it on the head with a club and served up Manatee steaks to his Legion mates at Thanksgiving! Shockingly cruel behaviour! No squirrel would do such a thing. ;-)

I feed the squirrels too, gnu. I love the little rascals. I've got red ones, black ones, and gray ones, and I feed them all. They're so cute! ;-) I love the way they stand with their little hands folded in almost a "prayer" position, not to mention the way they holler and bitch from the trees whenever they get pissed off, which happens quite frequently. If you imitate them, they get even more upset (same as dogs do).

"... and misses." Watch? Ya don't have to. Ya can hear the little bastards squeak for hours about how pissed off they are. They get pissed off just because you are walking near the tree they are in. And they won't shut up.

I have never killed one just because it was annoying me with incessant complaining but I have raised my gun and thought it would be a waste of ammo and decided against "it". And, they yap at everything, including large buck deer, so they can be "used" to advantage, especially in wet weather. Hmmm... not for general discussion.

"... then a few strokes with a potato masher in the bowl before putting it under the beater arm makes the job go smoother." Ahhhh, that's EXACTLY what I was trying to avoid when I laid out the $. If I could still mash, knead and thrash without pain I wouldn't have a new mixer. It's simple... don't let em cool off before beatin tha crap out of em.

Nearly had a chance to try squirrel puree but the little bastard got out of my garage before I could get the door closed. My neighbour feeds it peanuts because it's soooo cute. Cute like a stomach pump! And, I have a BRAND NEW hockey stick I bought a long time ago but never had the chance to shoot squirrel with. Maybe next time?

Tho, it is cute. It runs along the telephone wires with peanuts in it's mouth and jumps from tree to tree. It's quite something to watch the antics. Very entertainig. The best acrobatic trick I saw was last fall when one of it's forebearers climbed the power pole out back and danced on the ceramic potential protection of a transformer. It was like watching David Coppersquirrel... a disappearing act... one minute it was there and then POOF! it was gone and all that remained was a puff of smoke! So was the electrical power to my house. Not much of an illusion, really, when yer lyin on the ground and there is smoke eminating from yer fried nuts.

Good news on the maiden voyage of the mixer, gnu. Even though these devices are a powerhouse, that doesn't mean you can't speed up the process a little. I always mix the potatoes when they're hot, and use water they boiled in to thin them down to the proper consistency. If you've left them till they're cold then a few strokes with a potato masher in the bowl before putting it under the beater arm makes the job go smoother.

What you should be doing with all that free time you have now is working for Chongo and the APP and getting out the vote to put a REAL chimp in the White House. Don't you care at all about establishing equal primate rights? Fie, sir! Fie!

I tis Saturday the weekend is here, finally we poor slavies are released from bondage and toil under the suspicious eyes of hard-hearted overseers.

Except me. I am NOT released from bondage and toil, having been shut of suchthings for some time now. And let me tell you it is a strange and wonderful process finding out the taste of this peculiar freedom.

I have been playing with my new mikes and mixer to see how the recordings sound. They sound very nice. Tomorrow an audio tech friend will come over and sort out how they SHOULD sound.

The Getaway was purely good times. I am still shaking off the vibes and lingering images.

SRS... me too, during the process of making fishcakes. However! I let the spuds cool BEFORE I "mashed" them. Damn near like asphalt! The 300w motor was moaning cyclicly under the load but it got the job done. Adding the fish increased the laod but, by golly, she chewed thru the task and it didn't hurt my arthrtic hands! I have never seen mashed spuds that thick and sticky in my life. Making the cakes was a chore. = I am impressed! Should bought one years ago.

On to pizza dough next. Or maybe another batch of fish cakes... mine are gone.

Unfortunately, that IF statement only returns "T" in the hands of dipsomaniacs and self-indulgent solipsistic ne'er-do-wells, so it doesn't have a lot of merit in the ranks of great wisdom. But hey, if it makes ya giggle, go fer it.